Source: www.forum18.org
Date: September 8, 2023
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
An Orthodox priest who condemned Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine on
his YouTube channel has received a 3-year prison sentence for distributing
"false information about the Russian Armed Forces". The sentence – handed
down by a St Petersburg court on 55-year-old Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov – is the
second known jail term to punish an individual who opposed Russia's war
from a religious perspective. In March, a Moscow court handed Mikhail
Simonov a 7-year prison sentence.
In more than sixty videos posted on his "Orthodox Virtual Parish" channel,
Fr Ioann argued that all Christians should oppose the invasion, accused
Russian troops of committing crimes, and stated that the invaders would not
go to heaven. It is unknown whether or not he or the prosecutor will appeal
(see below).
"It so happens that I have experienced the SVO ["special military
operation", the official term for Russia's invasion of Ukraine] as a
personal tragedy, because on both sides of the conflict people of the same
blood and the same faith are opposing each other, often parishioners of the
same Orthodox Church", Fr Ioann wrote in an open letter on the Free Ioann
Kurmoyarov Telegram channel on 31 May. "Like any normal person, and even
more so as a Christian, I wanted to do everything in my power so that this
conflict would end as soon as possible and peace would come" (see below).
The Investigative Committee arrested Fr Ioann in early June 2022 and
charged him under the new Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 2, Paragraphs G
and D, introduced after the invasion to punish public dissemination of
"false information" about the Russian Armed Forces "for selfish motives"
and "for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious
hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social
group" (see below).
The maximum sentence he could have received is 10 years' imprisonment.
Prosecutors sought a prison term of 7 years. The judge also banned Fr Ioann
from posting material on the internet for two years (see below).
Forum 18 asked the St Petersburg Prosecutor's Office why expressing a
Christian position on the war in Ukraine is considered to be "false
information" about the Armed Forces, why prosecutors had requested such a
long prison sentence, and whether they would challenge the court verdict.
Forum 18 has received no reply (see below).
Prison authorities in St Petersburg – where he has been held since his
June 2022 arrest – have denied his requests for a meeting with a priest
and appropriate medical care (see below).
Fr Ioann has spent the duration of the investigation and his 11-month trial
in detention at St. Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison, where he will remain
until the verdict enters legal force. He has accused the detention centre
staff of withholding proper medical care, and has said he is on a
"prophylactic register" of detainees "prone to extremism and terrorism",
despite the charges against him being unrelated to either extremism or
terrorism under Russian law (see below).
Neither the prison service nor the St Petersburg Prosecutor's Office has
responded to Forum 18's enquiries about Fr Ioann's inclusion in such a
register or about his treatment in detention (see below).
Fr Ioann was formally deprived of his priestly status in the Moscow
Patriarchate on 1 April 2022 after a period of conflict with Novosibirsk
Diocese (where he served as a seminary lecturer from 2018 to 2020) over his
public criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church's new Main Cathedral of the
Armed Forces. He had already joined, in December 2021, a branch of the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) led by Odesa-based
Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), which did not enter communion with the
Moscow Patriarchate with other parts of ROCOR in 2007 (see below).
"Discreditation" and "False information"
Specific penalties for criticising Russia's actions in its renewed war
against Ukraine came into force on 4 March 2022. These include
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation"), which is used against apparently any form of anti-war
statement either in public spaces or online, and Criminal Code Article
207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation").
If individuals commit an offence covered by Administrative Code Article
20.3.3 more than once within a year, they may be prosecuted under Criminal
Code Article 280.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian
Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and
security").
On 28 March 2023, a series of amendments to the Criminal Code came into
legal force, increasing penalties for disseminating "false information"
about and repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces (Criminal Code
Articles 207.3 and 280.3). The amendments also widen the definition of
these offences (and of Administrative Code Article 20.3.3) to include
criticism of "volunteer formations, organisations and individuals who
assist in the fulfilment of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation" (that is, private mercenary units).
Under Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its
citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security"), Part 1, the
maximum prison sentence was raised from 3 years to 5 years. Under Part 2,
the same offence if resulting in "death by negligence", harm to health or
property, or mass public disorder, the penalty was raised from 5 years to 7
years.
Under Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"),
Part 1, the maximum prison sentence was raised from 3 years to 5 years
(Part 2 remains unchanged).
Now two jailed, two fined on criminal charges for religious opposition to
war
Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov is the second person to be sentenced to imprisonment
for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine on religious grounds, and the fourth
to be convicted on criminal charges:
– on 17 October 2022, Verkhoturye District Court (Sverdlovsk Region)
fined Fr Nikandr Igoryevich Pinchuk
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
of ROCOR as Fr Ioann) 100,000 Roubles under Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
VKontakte. In the posts, he accused the Russian army of shelling Ukrainian
cities, called it the "horde of the Antichrist", and praised the
"perseverance" of the defenders of "the city of Mary, Mariupol";
– on 30 March 2023, Timiryazevsky District Court in Moscow handed
63-year-old Mikhail Yuryevich Simonov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
sentence under Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
online comments about the war ("Killing children and women, on Channel One
[television] we sing songs. We, Russia, have become godless [bezbozhniki].
Forgive us, Lord!"; and "Russian pilots are bombing children"). He appealed
unsuccessfully on 25 July 2023. As of early September, he was in transit,
at Investigation Prison No. 1 in Nizhny Novgorod, on his way to a labour
camp;
– on 7 August 2023, Soviet District Court in Tomsk fined Anna Sergeyevna
Chagina 100,000 Roubles under Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
anti-war posts on VKontakte after first being convicted for displaying a
poster reading "Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)" at an anti-war
protest. She lodged an appeal on 25 August, but Tomsk Regional Court has
not yet listed any hearings.
Investigators have also opened three criminal cases against people who have
left Russia:
– Nina Aleksandrovna Belyayeva
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Communist municipal deputy from Voronezh (Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part
1);
– Fr Aleksandr Nikolayevich Dombrovsky
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Patriarchate priest from Bryansk Region who was told by local police that
the FSB security service had opened a case against him (Article unknown);
– Yury Kirillovich Sipko
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
former head of the Russian Baptist Union (under investigation under
Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
D), whose home in Moscow the Investigative Committee raided on 8 August
2023; they could not arrest him as he had already left the country, and
they have now had him placed on the Interior Ministry's wanted list.
In addition, on 29 June 2023 a Vladivostok court jailed Pentecostal
conscientious objector Andrey Kapatsyna for 2 years, 10 months for refusing
to fight in Ukraine (https://www.forum18.org/archi
He told commanders that "in accordance with his religious beliefs, he could
not take up arms and use them against other people".
St Petersburg: Prison term for criticising war from Christian perspective
On 31 August 2023, aftertwenty hearings over nearly a year (), St
Petersburg's Kalinin District Court found Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov (born Dmitry
Valeryevich Kurmoyarov, 8 January 1968) guilty of disseminating "false
information" about the Russian Armed Forces in videos on his YouTube
channel. The court sentenced him to 3 years' imprisonment in a
general-regime labour camp.
Judge Yekaterina Tyamina – the second judge to be assigned to the case
– also ruled that Fr Ioann will be subject to a 2-year ban on "engaging
in activities related to posting publications on the Internet
telecommunications network", according to the Telegram channel of the St
Petersburg Court System's Joint Press Service.
"It's hard for me to accept a situation in which Orthodox Christians are
fighting on both sides of a conflict, and two parts of the same Church have
different attitudes towards the [special military operation], Fr Ioann said
in his final statement to the court on 30 August. "And in general, in my
opinion, a Christian cannot look indifferently at the suffering of people,
and especially children, regardless of what caused it."
Prosecutors had requested a 7-year prison term. The judge took into account
Fr Ioann's guilty plea and expression of remorse, as well as the fact that
he had once been prosecuted in Ukraine for displaying the St George's
ribbon (seen as a symbol of support for Russia's armed forces and which is
banned in Ukraine), in imposing a lower sentence, a supporter who has been
following the case explained to Forum 18 on 31 August.
Fr Ioann has spent the duration of the investigation and trial in detention
at St Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison – a total of 449 days between arrest
and sentencing. If the court verdict comes into force, this time – plus
the time before any appeal – will be subtracted from his sentence at a
rate of one day in detention to a day and half in prison.
No written verdict is yet available, press spokeswoman Darya Lebedeva told
Forum 18 on 1 September, and it will not be published on the court website.
She added that "What the prosecutor asks for [with regard to punishment]
does not matter to the court. Their opinion has no significance for us".
Lebedeva promised on 8 September to find out if the written decision has
been issued.
It is as yet unknown whether either Fr Ioann or the prosecutor's office
will decide to appeal against Judge Tyamina's decision.
Forum 18 wrote to the St Petersburg Prosecutor's Office on 1 September,
asking why expressing a Christian position on the war in Ukraine is
considered to be "false information" about the Armed Forces. It also asked
why prosecutors had requested such a long prison sentence and whether they
would challenge the court verdict. Forum 18 had received no reply by the
middle of the working day of 8 September.
"Those who have unleashed aggression will not be in heaven"
The prosecution case against Fr Ioann was derived from videos he uploaded
to his YouTube channel
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Virtual Parish" – as well as anti-war posts on social media.
In his videos, Fr Ioann repeatedly criticised the Russian government, the
Moscow Patriarchate, and the war in Ukraine from a Christian perspective. A
total of 62 uploads featured in the case materials, Sever Realii noted on
24 August 2023
(https://www.severreal.org/a/z
(this is despite the fact that Fr Ioann made only 27 videos between the 24
February invasion and his arrest, Forum 18 notes).
Analysis by a Defence Ministry-appointed expert concluded that they
contained "a negative assessment of the Russian military, 'propaganda
statements that encourage opposition to the use of the Russian Armed Forces
outside the country', and false information about the actions of Russian
President Vladimir Putin", according to Sever Realii.
Although it remains unclear exactly which of the 210 videos on Fr Ioann's
channel comprised the prosecution evidence (as the indictment and verdict
are both as yet unavailable), it appears that the case centred on the one
entitled "Who will be in heaven, and who in hell?", posted on 12 March
2022.
Investigators charged Fr Ioann under Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false
information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"),
Part 2, Paragraphs G and D. These punish the public dissemination of "false
information" about the Russian Armed Forces "for selfish motives" and "for
reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or
enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group".
It appears that the latter accusation derives from Fr Ioann's pronouncement
in "Who will be in heaven, and who in hell?"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
to take revenge on Kyiv and Ukraine, convert to Islam. There is blood feud
in Islam. So, whoever wants to go to heaven, convert to Islam". "I declare
that I had no intention [of committing] and did not commit any acts aimed
at offending Muslims and inciting inter-religious enmity," Fr Ioann wrote
in an open letter published on the Free Ioann Kurmoyarov Telegram channel
on 13 March 2023. "I have always treated Muslims with respect, and was
therefore referring exclusively to the opinions of authoritative figures in
the Islamic world."
Early in this video, Fr Ioann states: "'Blessed are the peacemakers' —
'the peacemakers', do you understand the problem? And those who have
unleashed aggression will not be in heaven". He later addresses those who
believe Russia's attacking Ukraine is justified: "You have yourselves
chosen this hell. For the whole world, you are aggressors who are attacking
and destroying civilians of a neighbouring nation, which did not expect it,
which does not want you, which should determine its own fate".
In court on 30 August, Fr Ioann argued that this view was in keeping with
the Orthodox Church's principle of soteriological exclusivism (the idea
that salvation will not apply to everyone), and noted that the
prosecution's expert was "clearly not aware of the fact that the doctrine
of universal salvation was condemned by the Orthodox Church at the Fifth
Ecumenical Council as a heretical teaching".
(The bulk of the eight-and-a-half-minute video is taken up by Fr Ioann's
assessment of some of Russia's arguments for invading Ukraine, including
its claims to be defending the Donbas region and opposing Nato expansion.
In his comments, Fr Ioann also criticises Ukrainian actions in Donbas since
2014.)
Many of the channel's other posts express similar critical views of the
invasion. In a video posted on 24 March 2022, entitled "Is all power from
God? Is Putin's power from God?", Fr Ioann says: "The most painful thing is
that our army, the Russian army, is committing crimes. That's the trouble
– that my beloved country is behaving absolutely not in a Christian, not
in a human way, [but] in fact is doing the same thing that Nazi Germany did
in the 1930s and 1940s."
In a video of 5 April 2022, pinned at the top of the channel's homepage, Fr
Ioann comments: "In the Russian Orthodox Church it seems to me that a
demonic spirituality dominates, because the majority of Russian Orthodox
priests and bishops support this war. Of course I'm shocked by this. On the
one hand I'm glad I left [the Church] right on the eve of war .. but I
don't understand how they can be in this state when in principle they
should be professing the Gospel of Christ. There it says 'Blessed are the
peacemakers', 'Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword'."
At trial, Fr Ioann pleaded guilty, but denied having had any "selfish
motives" or "reasons of hatred or enmity" for his actions, and argued that
"The prosecution, in my opinion, did not take into consideration that,
after all, I am a priest, a monk and a theologian, and treated me as a
political figure", failing to acknowledge his "religious motivation".
"Being a deeply religious person, an Orthodox monk, priest, [and] teacher,
I was deeply shocked by news of the beginning of the special military
operation in Ukraine", Fr Ioann told the court during the final
presentation of arguments [preniya] on 30 August. "I was especially
traumatised by the thought that people of the Orthodox faith were
participating and suffering on both sides of this conflict".
"Being in a difficult psychological state, deeply experiencing the internal
conflict between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church, and also
painfully experiencing the tragedy of people who found themselves in the
zone of the Special Military Operation, not being an expert in political
and military issues, it was difficult for me to assess the current
situation", Fr Ioann added.
"One of the main Christian commandments is 'Blessed are the peacemakers'
[Matthew 5:9] which is pronounced every day in every Orthodox church at
every divine liturgy", Fr Ioann continued. "It was this evangelical
teaching that I tried to convey to the viewers of my channels and visitors
to the VKontakte page."
Investigation and trial
Investigative Committee officials arrested Fr Ioann on 7 June 2022
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
two icons, and a pectoral cross (as well as his electronic devices) during
the search of his home in St Petersburg.
On 8 June 2022, according to a statement on the St Petersburg Investigative
Committee website, investigators charged Fr Ioann under Criminal Code
Article 207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
2, specifically, as it later became known, under Paragraphs G and D. After
his arrest, Fr Ioann's whereabouts were uncertain for several days, and his
then-lawyer Leonid Krikun had to visit a series of St Petersburg detention
facilities in order to track down his client.
Fr Ioann's trial began on 20 September 2022. He made eleven appearances at
St Petersburg's Kalinin District Court before Judge Yulia Olshevskaya,
before his case was transferred in April 2023 to a new judge, Yekaterina
Tyamina, who examined the case again from scratch over another nine
hearings.
Kurmoyarov's first lawyer, Leonid Krikun, refused to continue representing
him after his first recognition of guilt in October 2022, believing that he
was "incriminating himself". (Krikun, who has defended a number of
political activists, later left Russia, the SOTA Project Telegram channel
reported on 4 January 2023.)
In late May 2023, Kurmoyarov's second lawyer Luisa Magomedova also left the
case at his request, as they had disagreed over his defence. He was
subsequently represented by court-appointed lawyer Tatyana Stanovaya.
"The criminal case has not affected me as a person in any way", Fr Ioann
told Sever Realii in an interview published on 24 August 2023
(https://www.severreal.org/a/z
"But it has allowed me to see the other side of life, allowed me to
understand why Christ preferred communication with tax collectors and
sinners to communication with the powerful of this world."
In his final speeches to the court, Fr Ioann asked the judge to consider
several mitigating factors, including his lack of previous convictions, his
responsibility for his elderly mother, and the absence of any "socially
dangerous consequences" of his actions, "which is confirmed by the absence
of victims in the indictment".
"For my part, I want to ask forgiveness of all those whom I may have
offended with my emotional statements about the progress of the SVO", he
concluded. "During the investigation, I realised that in Russia the words
of an Orthodox clergyman have special weight, and therefore you need to be
very careful with your statements, try to act not under the pressure of
emotions, but to be guided by the principle of 'do no harm'. I undertake in
the future not to touch upon the topic of the conduct of special military
operations by our troops."
Fr Ioann asked the court to choose a punishment "not related to detention
or restriction of freedom".
Denied medical treatment or visits from a priest
On 28 June 2023, in one of several unsuccessful applications to be released
from detention and placed under lesser restrictions, Kurmoyarov accused the
Kresty-2 prison of "numerous gross violations of my legal rights and
freedoms .. which harm my mental and physical health", including delays to
letters and constantly being moved between cells.
Fr Ioann stated that staff had ignored 25 requests he had made for medical
assistance, including for treatment by specialists (he has been diagnosed
with hypertension and a Baker's cyst). After he complained to the
prosecutor's office, he received some medical care, but "not in full". He
also noted that the emergency call button in his cell did not work.
Although, according to supporters, Fr Ioann has not been prevented from
praying or deprived of religious literature, he claimed that detention
centre staff have not allowed him to have religious items in his cell such
as his cassock and pectoral cross (despite the fact that detention centre
regulations do permit detainees the use of religious objects intended for
wearing on the body).
Fr Ioann also stated that he had not been allowed to see an Orthodox priest
"despite the fact that I and the previous lawyer filed a petition to the
court, [and] this was upheld".
Fr Ioann also noted that, upon arrival at Kresty-2, staff registered him
"as a person prone to extremism and terrorism", which they explained by
telling him that the charges against him were "on the list of [Criminal
Code] articles of an extremist nature".
The text of Article 207.3 does not mention extremism or terrorism, and it
is not among the Articles which give grounds for inclusion in the Federal
Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) "List of Terrorists and
Extremists (https://www.forum18.org/archi
however, in the same "Crimes against public security" chapter of the
Criminal Code as terrorism offences.
Forum 18 wrote to the St Petersburg and Leningrad Region branch of the
Federal Prison Service on 1 September 2023, asking why Fr Ioann had been
included on such a register, whether this would affect his treatment in
detention or in the prison colony (should his sentence enter legal force),
and why he had been denied medical treatment and visits from a priest.
Forum 18 had received no reply by the middle of the working day of 8
September.
Expelled from Moscow Patriarchate priesthood
Until his administrative prosecution in Ukraine in 2018 for displaying the
St George's ribbon (the case was dropped because the statute of limitations
had expired), Fr Ioann served as a priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
(Moscow Patriarchate) in Ukraine's Vinnytsia Region
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Russia to take up a seminary teaching position in Novosibirsk.
In summer 2020, Fr Ioann criticised the Russian Orthodox Church's new Main
Cathedral of the Armed Forces, near Moscow, for its inclusion of frescoes
depicting NKVD officers and Soviet soldiers (on the grounds that the
majority of the latter would have been Communists). This triggered a year
and a half of conflict with Novosibirsk Diocese, culminating in
Metropolitan Nikodim (Chibisov) of Novosibirsk stripping Fr Ioann of his
priestly status (https://www.forum18.org/archi
January 2022.
In December 2021, Fr Ioann joined a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside Russia (ROCOR)
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), which did not enter communion with the
Moscow Patriarchate with other parts of ROCOR in 2007.
Fr Ioann set up his "Orthodox Virtual Parish" YouTube channel in June 2020
in response to his suspension from Novosibirsk Diocese. Before Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, he posted numerous videos which criticised the Moscow
Patriarchate and the Russian government, alongside others on more general
theological and liturgical themes. After the war began, the channel became
"purely an anti-war project", as Fr Ioann put it in a video entitled "On
the spiritual essence of what is happening in Ukraine" (5 April 2022),
which remains pinned at the top of the channel's homepage. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background see Forum 18's survey of the general state of freedom
of religion and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
18's survey of the dramatic decline in this freedom related to Russia's
Extremism Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
A personal commentary by the then Director of the SOVA Center for
Information and Analysis (https://www.sova-center.ru), Alexander
Verkhovsky, about the systemic problems of Russian "anti-extremism" laws
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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